"Lance, come on, today's a special day…" Ilana said, tugging at her guardian's hand, which he quickly pulled away and shoved into his pocket.
"What?" He asked uninterested, sitting down on the couch in their living room in Sherman, Illinois.
"Do you know what day it is?"
"Saturday?" He asked.
"No, the day of New Moons… Octus said after the number of days since we left Galaluna, that it should be around now." Ilana chirped. "After the homecoming dance went so poorly… I figure we could just have a little celebration to ourselves, I mean… they don't celebrate it on Earth, but such an important tradition would be a shame to miss."
Lance took a moment to take it in, the day of New Moons was the Galalunian festival equal to new year's and Thanksgiving, it celebrated the full cycle of the moons and was a time where people gathered with family and friends and rejoicing on all of life's pleasures and such… Lance was never one to celebrate such an event. "No, sorry, I have things to do." He said, standing up and heading out the front door and getting in his silver Cadillac.
Lance drove down town through town for around an hour, looking for something to do until stopping at a local street fair and getting out to walk around. There were canopies set up with food and games, children ran through the crowded streets filled with adults talking with drinks in hand. Lance noticed a man leaning against a wall with an acoustic guitar, strumming a rejoice-full tune. Two little girls and a little boy were next to him, they looked sad and hungry. A sign at his feet read: Homeless, three kids. Anything helps.
Lance approached the man and handed him a hundred dollar bill, he always carried money, considering Octus could print it. "Hey… this'll get dinner set." He said, giving the man the money.
"Thank you… young man… bless you, sir… bless you!" The homeless man exclaimed, getting up to hug Lance. The usually reserved Lance Lunis would have pushed him away, but he didn't. He returned with a pat on the man's back, and waited for him to recede. The man looked at him with a happy face, he had a round nose, short black hair and deep brown eyes. He smiled at Lance, who with surprise returned. "Come on kids, let's go get a nice dinner."
"Have a good night, sir." Lance said.
"We will, thank you, stranger… what is your name?"
"Lance Lunis."
"Thank you, Lance… my kids haven't had a proper meal in weeks."
"There's a shop up the street, cook a very excellent chicken." Lance directed, the man said his farewells and headed up to find the restaurant. The young man felt a warm feeling in his chest as the children ran up the street, laughing with their father.
Lance walked down the streets, the sun had gone down and the yellow lights lining the sides of the buildings and tents illuminated the fair. The roar of people's conversations filled the air, suddenly filled by screams and panic. Lance looked around with alertness for the cause. A woman was struggling with a man dressed in a dark black hoodie, he pushed her to the floor and grabbed her purse, then ran off.
Some men helped the woman up, an entire crowd watched the criminal run with the stolen bag. Lance's blood boiled, and he sprinted after him at full speed. Being in the Galalunian military for the majority of his life, he could run quite fast, and was able to catch up, despite his head start. Lance leaped forward and tackled the thief, knocking him to the ground.
Without hesitation, he sent a single punch to the man's face, and got up off of the ground. The crook stood up and raised his fists for a fight. Lance grinned and returned stance, his opponent was foolish enough to make first strike. A forward punch aimed at Lance's face, the young soldier raised his arm and blocked the attack, then used his other arm to strike his ribs.
As the man in black fell back, he sent a series of quick blows at his body. Then spun around in a circle, gaining momentum, and then kicking the thief to the ground. A group of middle aged men and an elderly man came up and held the downed criminal to the floor as the surrounding crowd cheered on Lance, who picked up the purse from the floor and handed it to the woman. "Young man, thank you… I was shopping here with my sister, I have a lot of money in here." She said, pulling out a few bills. "Here, it's the least I could do." She handed him a few hundred dollars.
"No, I couldn't accept that, Ma'am." Lance said, modestly. The woman smiled and put the money away, and the crowd cheered.
"Way to go, kid!"
"See, there's a hero for you!"
"Good to see our youths haven't evolved into sloths! Good job, son!" A smile appeared on the soldiers face, as the surrounding people shouted complements and encouragements.
"What's your name, young hero?"
"Lance Lunis." He responded simply, waving her goodbye and walking away. Lance stopped by a music stand and bought a shiny new guitar and a plate of freshly baked cookies from a nearby bakery. He found his way back to his car. He noticed a little girl sobbing in the parking lot, an ice cream cone spilled all over the floor. Pink, strawberry ice cream melting all over the pavement. He looked at the girl as she mourned her loss. Lance walked over to the ice cream truck nearby where the girl must have bought it from. "One strawberry ice cream cone, please." Lance said, placing the money on the counter.
"You got it, for yourself?" The truck owner asked.
"For the little girl." He said, pointing to the girl, still crying.
"You're a good kid." The man smiled. "On the house."
"No, no I insist." Lance pushed back the money to the man. "We all got to pay rent, tax is getting ridiculous."
"Well, I hear you there, brother. Hey have a good night." He said, handing him a pink cone of ice cream.
"Thanks." Lance headed over to the girl and crouched next to her. "No need to cry… here." He handed her the ice cream. The little girl whipped her nose and dried her eyes, then took the ice cream and carefully licked it. The soldier managed a smile and looked around for the girl's parents. "Where are your parents?"
The little girl only pointed to a couple walking towards them. "I saw what you did, that was a good thing you did there. I tip my hat to you, son." The girl's father said, shaking Lance's hand.
"No problem, sir."
"What's your name?" The mother asked.
"Lance Lunis." He responded. "Have a good night." He said, walking over to his car and getting in, driving away from the fair. After an hour drive or so, Lance found himself in the woods where they had originally landed when they first came to Earth. He got out of the car and wondered through the woods until he found the cave where he had originally wanted to set up fort.
He gazed off into the bright city lights and sat down on a rock and pulled out the box of cookies, munching down on one. He set down his new guitar, it's sleek, cherry red wood body shining in the dark. From a bag he'd brought from his car, he pulled out a black picture frame and set it down on a nearby rock and lit some candles next to it.
He glanced at his watch. 2:00 AM. He smiled, and started strumming his guitar softly, singing a soft melody to himself.
The days are long, and the weeks grow longer.
My heart grows weak, but I get stronger.
Every day I think of you, see you in my dreams.
Wish that you could see me now, so you'd be proud of me.
He sat motionless, staring at the city lights. A single tear escaping from his eye, the otherwise emotionless soldier sat in silence. "Out of all the people I saved today… why couldn't I have saved you?" He picked up his guitar and stared at the cracked picture frame of himself and his father. "Happy birthday, dad."
